Description of the flag

Back when I joined this list, one of the first images I posted was the flag of
the City of Winnipeg, where I live. Since then, I have gotten "up close and personal"
to an actual flying copy of the flag (it was flying in a park behind me, where I
was waiting at a bus stop). Really got to see it fly, too, was a fierce winter
storm then and got to examine the flag in between cursing the infamous
Winnipeg weather.David Kendall, 7 April 1997

On October 1, 1975, Council adopted the flag of The City of Winnipeg. The flag consists of the City Crest on a field of blue and yellow. The blue field indicates the city’s clear blue skies and the yellow represents golden wheat fields, the original basic economy of the City. The blue and yellow design was adopted as the official colours for the City’s Centennial celebrations in 1974.

The City has had two official coats of arms or crests in its
history. The original bore the motto, “Commerce, prudence,
industry.” Elements shown on the crest included a bison,
once very common on the prairie, a steam engine to
represent the coming of the railroad to Winnipeg, and
sheaves of wheat to symbolize the staple crop that brought
prosperity to a young city.
Winnipeg’s current official Coat of Arms was granted by the
College of Heralds in London, England. On January 24,
1973, Council adopted this crest, which symbolizes both the
events of unification and the traditional heritage of the
combined areas.

The significance of the emblazonry upon the crest is as
follows:

The Fort Garry Gate at the top represents
Winnipeg’s early history as a Hudson’s Bay fur
trading centre. Beneath the gate is a shield
divided into two parts. The top part contains
thirteen gold stars on a blue field, symbolizing
the thirteen former municipal governments
that were unified to create the new City.

The blue background depicts Winnipeg’s clear blue skies.
Below the sky, a prairie crocus upon a plain green field
represents Winnipeg’s location as a prairie City.
The ribbons at the top and bottom represent the ribbon that
ties the community together.

The motto of the crest, “UNUM CUM VIRTUTE MULTORUM”
is Latin for “One with the strength of many”. Two thoughts lie
behind this motto. Firstly, Winnipeg is perhaps uniquely one
city formed of people of all races; and secondly, it is one city
formed from many cities.

David Kendall, 23 January 1998

Logo Flag

image
by David Kendall

The logo, adopted on Jan. 18. 2001, as per
http://winnipeg.ca/clerks/pdfs/manuals/municipal/MMPart_1.pdf
is used "as a symbol of the city", but I've seen it more and more used as a flag,
even more than the "official" flag. (Again, as per the above website: "The current
flag with its crest will remain in place as an official representation of the City
of Winnipeg for ceremonial and official purposes. The new logo will be placed on
banners and flags for promotional purposes. ") For example, a few weeks ago, I talked
about the main downtown intersection of Portage Ave. and Main Street, vexillologically
significant because of the 39 flag poles placed there during the Pan Am Games in
1999 and never taken down. They often fly the Canada, Manitoba, and Winnipeg flags,
but, oftentimes for Winnipeg, the "logo flag" is used instead.

The Winnipeg Logo captures the spirit,
energy and diversity of our City while
balancing a sense of our heritage with
our progressiveness. It is also an
interpretive depiction of our character,
our people and our landscape, making it uniquely Winnipeg.
Though each person who sees the symbol will ultimately
apply his/her own set of values and meanings, each of the
logo elements carries with it a theme that represents
Winnipeg.

The two crescents atop the sweeping plane symbolize an
embrace reminiscent of the caring, friendly and welcoming
nature of the people here. The depiction of movement in
these two elements alludes to the momentum and dynamism
that is evident throughout the City. The sweeping line that
supports the two crescents represents the vast horizon line
and open sky that is characteristic of Winnipeg.
The red circle in the centre of the logo symbolizes the heart
of our community and our people. It is also suggestive of the
fact that Winnipeg is located at the centre of the country and
the continent.
The rich colour palette symbolizes the diversity that exists in
our cultures, our seasons and our crisp, clean, beautiful
landscapes.

As a whole, the graphic resembles a rising sun
above the horizon and also mimics the form of a leaping
figure. These combined elements depict the energy and
momentum of our forward-looking nature, while the
positioning line speaks to the strength of our character.

In 1972, Winnipeg amalgamated its suburbs into the city proper (what the
stars on the city's crest on the city's flag stand for). I currently live in the
area of Transcona, which, like the other areas of the city, was its own town,
then city, before amalgamation (in fact, in 1972, Transcona was the third
largest city in Manitoba). We recently visited the Transcona Historical Museum,
and I asked if there was a town flag when Transcona was its own city. Attached
is the response.

I received your research request and our
records indicate that the Town of Transcona did not have its own specific flag.
Rather, the Union Jack Flag and the old Canadian Flag were present. The earliest
document of a flag in Transcona was in 1915 where the Union Jack Flag flew on
top of Southside School. In 1931, the Transcona Golf Club Clubhouse flew the old
Canadian flag. In 1936, we have documentation suggesting that the Union Jack
Flag was flown at the Transcona Jubilee Parade.Morgan Dziad, Research
Assistant, Transcona Historical MuseumDavid Kendall, 25 August 2010